Saturday, November 29, 2014

As December gets closer, my mind inevitably returns to the marvelous times of my childhood, which although were years far from perfection, have merged into the symbol of safety, hope, love and innocent dreams.

As a winter-born girl, I can't help getting romantic when I think of this season. Truth be told, I enjoy each and every part of this month. I love the chain of events, Santa, the reindeers, the stories, the glitter, the coziness, the tinsel, the cinnamon-scented candles, the childish crawling for presents and gift-shopping sessions, the wrapping, the carols, the snow, the low temperatures, the stiffness given by infinite layers of clothing, the ice rinks, eating all day long, the movie marathons, the oranges... and who remains indifferent to the tree that occupies half of the room around Christmas?

Why Blogmas?

I want to capture every side of this period, inspire, and share with you the magic and enthusiam that come along with this month, by posting as often as I can!

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Well, it is said that "tinder" has become a verb... It spread everywhere, but putting it brief, it's just an Android/ Iphone dating application that allows you to choose people that you find "hot", based on a few pictures and a short optional description. Moreover, regardless you consider someone "hot or not", they will never know. Only when they like you back, a "match" is created and so you can start a conversation...

WARNING: swiping is addictive!

Yes, I do have installed it, and it's fun, so I just felt like sharing my 2-week Tinder experience with you, although you might find it completely off-topic:)

Everything started on a Thursday school morning when I saw a friend swiping left and right, making the selection process so interesting, that an hour later I had it on my phone...

Tinder Facts

You have to connect with your Facebook account in order to prove you're a real person

You can only upload pictures you posted on Facebook

Tinder is a location-based application, so it will only show you people within an established range (maximum 100 km, but it goes a bit farther than that)

You can't go back once you liked or disliked someone

You can block but can't unblock a person

Swiping Technique

Well, this is the most pleasant part of everything and I tried numerous methods of selection: age-based, picture-based, even description-based. The first picture is probably the most important one, at least for me, I always wonder what kind of person would use that as a Facebook profile photo.

I'm pretty selective most of the time, but I once got bored and made a stupid algorythm- one to the left, one to the right- not a brilliant idea, to be honest =).

Advantages

Boosts your self-esteem: the users know the satisfaction you get when the little flame appears on the notification bar, and a new match pops up.

Want to socialize?It's here that you can find people you would probably not dare to talk to in other circumstances. So, if boredom ever strikes, consider this option.

Travellingalone?Not my case, of course, however, if you were a newbie and felt like going out, but had no company, Tinder could solve that. I know that it can be really risky and it takes a while to get someone's trust, but if everything goes right, the experience must be pretty awesome.

Come out of your shell?Seeing that people you like might have the same feelings about you could really help you change your opinion about yourself. And in addition to that, you definitely learn a lot of small-talk techniques:)

Fun and pressure-less! Talk, get annoyed, block, that simple...

Downsides

No long-lasting conversations: Well, this is the purpose of the app, you have to continuously swipe in order to create new matches. The main reason you installed it is boredom or curiosity, so there's little chance you'll stop swiping just because you found an interesting person. I noticed that some discussion tend to lag, especially when the probability of meeting is low...

Trapped by appearences: Of course I'm not talking about actually meeting a match in person and being disappointed, because I'm keeping things safe. But simply discovering a Facebook profile might not live up to your expectations, and then comes a rapid turn-off.

Unanswered messages! As much as I'd like to consider myself impossible to ignore, I have to admit that this happened to me. Saturday night, not having so much fun at this dull party, so I decided to say hello to all my silent matches- probably my "Aloha" or "Ahoy marinero"+ the weird hour scared them a bit, but it's clear that only half of them replied- a bit annoying! I sometimes ignore people too, so it's probably just karma...

Match-less?I get a like back from most of the people I like, however, I never try too much to memorize them, so I probably don't notice when I don't receive a response... It;s better this way, I suppose:)

Did I mention the addictive part? Well, once you've installed it, you'll probably feel like using it constantly; at least, I always wonder why would I stop, it doesn't affect me in any way...

Superficial?! Hmm, probably needed mentioning earlier. You don't give anybody a chance if their picture doesn't convice you and I'm sure there were a lot of interesting people I rejected in less than 5 seconds.

PS: I know I haven't posted in a while, but it was a really weird and tense month- lots of final exams, Cambridge (totally exhausting) and a serious lack of inspiration... hopefully I will soon get back on track